"It may be some secret process they have of treating ropes to make them tougher, so they'll last longer," Joe said. "They may call it ripening, but I never heard of it. I'll ask them." "Don't tell them I saw them," Helen cautioned him. "Of course not," Joe answered. "Perhaps it may be a professional secret with them, and they won't tell me anyhow. But I'll ask." But when Joe, as casually as he could, inquired of Sid and Tonzo what they knew of ripening trapeze ropes, the two Spaniards shook their heads, though, unseen by Joe, a quick look passed between them. "I sometimes oil my ropes, to make them pliable," Tonzo admitted. "Olive oil I use. But it does not make them ripe." "I guess that must have been it," thought Joe. "Helen was probably mistaken. It might have been a word that sounded like ripening." So he said no more about it then, though when he reported to Helen the result of his questioning, she shook her head. "I'm sure I heard aright," she declared. "And they were pouring something from a bottle on the trapeze rope from which they had pushed the silk covering." "It might have been olive oil," Joe said. "It might," Helen admitted, '"but I don't believe it was. They don't handle any of your ropes, do they?" "I always look after my own. Why?" "Oh, I just wanted to know," and that was all the answer Helen would give. As Joe went to his dressing room for that afternoon's performance he passed Señor Bogardi, the lion tamer. Something in the man's manner attracted Joe's attention, and he asked him: "Aren't you feeling well to-day, Señor?" "Oh, yes, as well as usual. It is my Princess who is not well." "Princess, the big lioness?" "Yes. I do not know what to make of her actions. She is never rough with me, but a little while ago, when I went in her cage, she growled and struck at me. I had to hit her--which I seldom do--and that did not improve her temper. I do not know what to make of her. I have to put her through her paces in the cage this afternoon, and I do not want any accident to happen. "It is not that I am afraid for myself," went on the tamer, and Joe knew he spoke the truth, for he was absolutely fearless. "But if she comes for me and I have to--to do--something, it may start a panic. No, I do not like it," and he shook his head dubiously. "Oh, well, maybe it will come out all right," Joe assured him. "But you'd better tell Jim, and have some extra men around. She can't get out of her cage, can she?" "Oh, no, nothing like that. Well, we shall see." It was almost time for the performance to begin. The crowd was already streaming into the animal tent and slowly filtering into the "main top," where the performance took place. Before that, however, there was a sort of "show" in the animal arena, Señor Bogardi's appearance in the cage with the lioness being one of the features.